How to locate a missing word document complete 06 07 26

Try the following steps in order until the missing Word document or pages are found.

1. Search for the document by name

• On Windows: Select Start, type the document name (or part of it), then press Enter.
• In the results list (Documents / Files), double-click the document if it appears.

2. Use Word’s “Recover Unsaved Documents”

• Open Word.
• Go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.
• Look through the list for a file from the date you completed it (06‑07‑26) and open it.
• If it opens correctly, select Save As and save it as a .docx file.

3. Search for AutoRecover files (.asd)

• On Windows, select Start, enter *.asd in the search box, and press Enter.
• If any .asd files are found:
  1. Open Word and select File > Open > Browse.
  2. In Files of type, choose All Files.
  3. Browse to the folder where the .asd file was found, right‑click it, and select Open.
  4. If it is the correct document, save it as a .docx file.

4. Search for Word backup files (.wbk)

• In Word, check that backups are enabled: File > Options > Advanced > Save section and see if Always create backup copy is selected.
• On Windows, select Start, type *.wbk, and press Enter.
• If a file named Backup of your document name appears, double‑click it to open in Word and then save it.
• For Microsoft 365 subscriptions, also check:
  • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word
  • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles (replace <UserName> with the actual Windows user name).

5. Restart Word to trigger AutoRecover

• Close Word completely.
• Reopen Word.
• If the Document Recovery pane appears, look for entries like document name [Original] or document name [Recovered].
• Double‑click the file, then use File > Save As to save it as a .docx file.

6. Search for temporary files (.tmp)

• Select Start, type *.tmp, and press Enter.
• Select the Documents tab in the search results.
• Look for files with dates/times matching when the document was edited.
• If nothing is found, repeat the search using ~ (tilde) instead of .tmp.
• In Word, use File > Open > Browse, set Files of type to All Files, and try opening likely .tmp files.

7. Check the Recycle Bin

• Double‑click the Recycle Bin on the desktop.
• Look for .doc, .docx, or .dot files with the right date.
• If the missing document is found, right‑click it and select Restore.

8. If the file was on OneDrive or SharePoint

• If the document was saved to OneDrive or SharePoint, check their recycle bins and restore options:
  • For OneDrive: see Restore deleted files or folders in OneDrive.
  • For SharePoint/Teams: see Restore items in the recycle bin that were deleted from SharePoint or Teams.

9. If pages or content are missing from an existing file

• If the file opens but some pages are missing, check for an earlier AutoRecover version:
  1. Open the file.
  2. Go to File > Info.
  3. Under Manage Documents, look for a version labeled (when I closed without saving).
  4. Open it and select Restore (or Compare first if needed).

If none of these steps locate the document or missing pages, and it was stored locally on Windows 10 or 11, consider using the Windows File Recovery tool to attempt file recovery.

References:

• How to recover unsaved Word documents
• Recover an earlier version of a Word file
• Find lost files after upgrading Windows
• Find lost or missing files in OneDrive